Based on journalist Kurt Eichenwald's 2000 book, the film traces Whitacre’s journey from button-down Archer Daniels Midland executive to FBI informant intent on taking down the agribusiness giant. Supposedly, Whitacre had clandestine meetings with Archer Daniels Midland brass at the Makaha club in the ‘90s.

Possibly shady, possibly downright delusional, Whitacre first confessed to the FBI in 1992 that the Fortune 500 company was conspiring with its competitors to fix the price of a potentially lucrative food additive.